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• Watson, Whyte take singles titles at JTTA National Table Tennis Championships

  Kane Watson and Keeara Whyte emerged as the respective Men’s and Women’s open singles champions at the 2024 Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) National Senior and Junior Championships held from September 6-8 at the National Indoor Sports Center in Kingston.

  Watson returned from retirement to claim his sixth national title by a score of 4-3 in a seven-game thriller over 2023 champion Mark Phillips.

  Watson won the first three sets 11-7, 11-3 and 11-8 before Phillips rallied to win the next three sets 11-6, 11-5 and 11-9, setting up a decisive seventh set.

  It was a close contest throughout but Watson held his nerve to emerge victorious by a score of 11 points to nine.

  In the women’s singles final, Keara Whyte got the better of defending champion Tsenaye Lewis in a 4-0 straight-sets win.

  Whyte won the first set comfortable 11-4 before two hard fought sets (11-9, 11-9) in the second and third.

  The fourth set proved to be the most competitive with Lewis fighting to prolong proceedings but Whyte eventually prevailed 12-10 to secure the title.

  Watson and singles semi-finalist Paulton Madden combined to win the men’s doubles title while sisters Tsenaye and Gianna Lewis took the women’s double crown.

  As far as the juniors are concerned, the following were the respective age-group winners: Kaylor Dyer (U-9 and U-11 Girls), Shacoil Bird (U-9 Boys), Malone Bird (U-11 Boys), Kira Scott (U-13 and U-15 Girls), Ajani Spencer (U-13 Boys), Gmarco Smith (U-15 Boys), Keeara Whyte (U-19 Girls), Azizi Johnson (U-19 Boys).

  Andrea Wadsworth and Phillip Drummond won the women’s and men’s Over-40 singles titles.

  Kingston took the title as the top women’s parish team while St. Andrew took the men’s crown.

   

• McClaren happy with spirit, energy of players heading into first game of 2024-25 Nations League- “It’s been great”

  Head coach of the Jamaica Men’s National Football Team, commonly referred to as the “Reggae Boyz,” Steve McClaren, spoke glowingly of his squad’s energy and enthusiasm ahead of their 2024-25 CONCACAF Nations League opener against Cuba at the National Stadium in Kingston on Friday.

  McClaren, who was most recently part of Manchester United as a first team coach, was hired by Jamaica in July to replace Heimir Hallgrimsson, who has since taken up the role as manager of the Republic of Ireland.

  The 63-year-old former Newcastle United and FC Twente coach will open his stint as manager of a Reggae Boyz unit who finished third in last season’s Nations League under Hallgrimsson, their best ever finish in the competition.

  “Looking forward to it,” McClaren said in a pre-match press conference on Thursday.

  “It’s been a long build-up since I first came over to Jamaica,” he added.

  One thing that McClaren spoke glowingly of about his players is the energy and spirit he’s seen amongst the group ahead of Friday’s game, an important factor in any winning unit.

  “It was nice to get into camp, meet the players, get on the grass and lose my voice from shouting too much. It’s been great. From the first day the players came in, it’s been great energy and spirit amongst them. They’ve shown that on the training field and we need to transfer what we’ve done this week onto the field tomorrow to get a result against Cuba,” he said.

  Ahead of his first game in charge of the Reggae Boyz at home, McClaren, despite his 23 years of managerial experience, is feeling the nerves as is customary with anyone starting a new job in any profession.

  “Always. I like that. It means you’re ready for the game. That’s what football is all about, doesn’t matter what level. When you play, you don’t quite know what’s going to happen. It’s football,” he said.

  “We can control the controllable which we’ve tried to do. We just have to keep things simple. I’m going to concentrate tomorrow on the performance. If we get the performance from the players, normally you get the win,” he added.

  When questioned about the style of coaching fans can expect to see from him going forward, apart from jokingly saying a “winning” coach, McClaren emphasized a focus on the basics and building on what has been done over the last two years.

  “I’m quite a flexible, adaptable coach. I like the fundamentals. I like the basics. I like people knowing and doing their jobs, working hard, having a good attitude and being hard to beat. I think that’s the platform of all performances,” he said.

  “If you’re easy to beat, too stretched and can’t defend, you don’t win football matches. That is what the team have developed over the last two years and I like that. It gives us a platform. We need to build from that platform now,” he added.

   

   

• JTTA National Senior and Junior Table Tennis Championships set for September 6-8

  From September 6 to September 8, Jamaica’s top table tennis players will descend upon the National Indoor Sports Center in Kingston for the 2024 Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) National Senior and Junior Table Tennis Championships.

  In what promises to be an unforgettable weekend of table tennis excitement, players will be competing in categories ranging from Under-9 Girls and Boys all the way up to the Men’s and Women’s Open categories.

  “This will be the largest participation in over 20 years,” according to JTTA President Ingrid Graham.

  She also noted that this will be the largest number of participants ever in both the Men’s Open and Under-19 sections.

  These championships will also see Jamaican citizens overseas coming to the island to compete for the top spot in their respective categories.

  “We have over 10 Jamaican citizens living in London, Canada and the USA coming over to participate,” Graham said.

  Sponsors for the championships include OSIL, Western Sports, Graham International Consulting, SDF, JOA, Insport, Virginia Deer, Mother’s, Altamont Court Hotel, Auto Channel, Jamaica Post and GEWO Jamaica.

  Doors open at 9:00 am Jamaica Time each day.